Posts tagged: flames

This post is from guest writer Ktown. We’re shutting the blog down soon, but he wanted to squeak one post in before doing so…

Setting the Facts Straight

I was recently pointed in the direction of a Flames blogger who wrote about the state of their team. That in itself is likely a misleading statement, as the author wrote primarily about the state of the Oilers, under the theme of “We don’t suck as bad as them”. This opened up a lively debate with a friend of mine (as avid a Flamer as I am an Oiler). Throughout our banter, I heard more of the same “facts” spewed back at me, attempting to demonstrate the Oilers’ futility in the last few (several) years.
Now, before we get too far, I want to state clearly – this is not a defense of the Oilers, nor an attempt to say “they don’t suck that bad”. The levels of suckage, futility, insanity and pure, abject failure within the organization are beyond debate. What I am submitting now is more of a simple supplication to other fan bases (and even our own) to at least get some facts straight before engaging in any spirited debate.

PRE-GAME RANT

So we didn’t get to see Klefbom last night, but we should tonight. Arcobello was “sent down” (on paper) to make room, but he’s been told by the coach to find himself a place to stay. In plain english, that means he’s made the team. This is good news. In reality, he should be ahead of Sam Gagner. He should be the 2nd line center… at least the way Gagner has been playing. I’m sure Gagner’s slowed down by the broken jaw. He isn’t going to go in the dirty areas like he needs to for him and this team to be successful. So, for now at least, Gagner needs to be moved down the lineup, and Arco up the lineup. But that won’t happen tonight.

Bryzgalov played for the Barons yesterday. Looks like he got shell-shocked in a 5-4 loss. According to Jonathan Willis, though, only one goal was possibly his fault. So that isn’t as bad as it sounds.

Sad moment.. this marks the first time the team will see Ladislav Smid in another uniform. I still hate this trade. Urgh.

The team needs a miracle tonight. They are playing an equally crappy team in Calgary. Calgary is all work, with little skill to show… the Oilers are all skill… with some heart from many players, but with a great lack in common sense and tactics. Something’s gotta give here. Both teams are struggling. 2-1 SO win for someone? The Oilers are slump-busters for most teams… but the Oilers also spanked the Flames 8-2 the last time these two teams met in Calgary. So who knows.

PRE-GAME RANT

The fat lady has sung. It’s over. The other teams are increasing their gap on us too much for there really to be a chance. Not only does Edmonton have to outpace the 9th, 10th and 11th place teams now, but they of course have to outpace their original target, Detroit, by 7 points (possibly 6, if we somehow picked up the tie breaker… gaining 4 more regulation or overtime wins on Detroit in the process). This just isn’t going to happen in 8 games. That basically means that not only does Edmonton need to be perfect, but Detroit needs a monumental loss and needs to completely fall apart. Let’s also throw in the fact the Oilers have been struggling to win put a string of wins together all season (although they did win 5 in a row leading up to this 4 game losing streak). I do expect a win tonight for the Oilers, which will mislead some people into thinking that maybe this team still has what it takes to make the playoffs… they just don’t. It takes a lot for me to give up on the season’s playoff hopes, but I have now. I’ll still watch the games now though and hope for all the wins they can get, even if their draft position potentially gets worse.

Hemsky will be out for at least a week with a “nagging foot injury” from blocking a short a while back. That means more opportunity for Yakupv. With 8 games left and no hope in making the playoffs, I wouldn’t mind seeing Yakupov with Hall and Nuge for a bit, or even with Gagner and Hall.. juggle the lines a bit to maximize offensive potential, and see what he can make with it. Of course it could be a disaster defensively too, but who knows.

PRE-GAME RANT

Alright, do not adjust your TVs, we are playing those sad sacks to the south yet again. What a time to be a Flames fan, no? We feel your pain, as we were there. I’m not so sure our exodus was as painful, however. We still foolishly had a glimmer of hope. At least Flames fans should have no disillusions. That team is torn apart and should be pretty crappy for a while. I’m not saying this to gloat… I long for the days of a GOOD Battle of Alberta. It sucks that both of our teams have had to go through this. But the Battle of Alberta will return one day.

Right now it looks like the Flames best scorer is tough guy Brian McGratton… we’ll have to shadow him tonight with our best defensive players. 😉 Joey MacDonald gets the start for the Flames tonight. All jokes aside, this worries me.. I always think the Oilers play their worst againt the “backups”.

Oh yah, in case you hadn’t noticed.. today is trade dudline day. At this point, two minor trades have been made (the most significant name involved was Scott Hannan, if that tells you anything). If the Oilers walk away with Ben Bishop without losing any significant parts, including Magnus Paajarvi, I’ll be quite happy. However, I think they’ll do nothing. Terry Jones seems to think the Oilers will make something happen though.

I’d imagine that again the Oilers will go with a “winning” line up. I think we should be concerned that the team didn’t generate a lot of shots last game. Maybe not THAT concerned, but there should be concern. Need to improve on that if they hope to beat some of the league’s best in the remaining 13 games. I’d like to see Lander slot into the lineup tonight. Haven’t heard any rumor that he will, however.

Go Oil! Feels good being this close to playoffs, no? The “ol’ lady” even received her playoff tickets offer in the mail from the Oilers yesterday. That is damn exciting..

Oh before I end it… a couple of deadline day near misses that were mentioned on Sportsnet:

When Doug MacLean was GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets, he was offered Cory Schneider in exchange for Gilbert Brule. At the time, Gilbert Brule had very high expectations and was even being called the potential Crosby of the West. What a mistake that was. MacLean obviously turned it down.

Brian Lawton, then GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, was offered Claude Giroux in exchange for Paul Ranger. At the time, Giroux was a PPG player in the AHL but not a guy a lot of people were talking about. The Lightning had a lot of hope for Ranger, however, so Lawton turned the deal down. D’oh.

Moral of the story.. hindsight is 20/20… don’t make deals for the sake of making deals. As they say, sometimes the deals you don’t make are better than the ones you do. Paul Holmgren would have been executed for that one.

PRE-GAME RANT

So, to start.. LADI SMID!! An Oiler for at least 4 more years (@ $3.5M per year). Excellent news. A lot of people just don’t fully realize just how good a defensive defenceman Smid is. He is an excellent shutdown defenseman. These types of defensemen are often unheralded. In my opinion, if you are a defenseman, you should excel at your end of the rink before you excel at the other… so I have far more respect for the Orpik, Smid, Girardi types more than I do a Byfuglien, Gonchar, Campbell types. Anyways, Smid’s deal is on the low end for a shutdown defenseman, especially considering that he is solid ont he breakout. He’s everything this high flying offensive team will need to be successful, and I’m very happy about this. A couple quick stats for you here: Smid is 15th in Hits this year, 4th in blocked shots (only 3 behind the leader). Last year he finished 7th in blocks.

Now on to rumors… rumor has it the Oilers are going to hang on to Ryan Whitney for their playoff drive. I’m OK with this. Chances are the value out there for him is horrid. I’d say, at best, they are looking at a 2nd rounder.. maybe a little more. We don’t really need draft picks as much as we’d need a solid defender. I’m not sold that Whintey is that solid of a defender, but he’s been playing a lot better as of late. I always hope for the best with our players, so I hope he can prove everyone wrong about him (including me).

The Oilers are also said to be looking to offer Khabibulin another year. This one.. I just don’t know. I will say that Khabibulin is obviously a superb teammate and great influence on Dubnyk. However, we are talking about a guy who’s played all of EIGHT GAMES this year and has shown signs of fatigue after at least 3 of those. It is definitely time for this gentleman to retire, if you ask me. The tough thing is, in games that he played this year, he has almost always been stellar. So that makes it tough for a guy to think “I am done here..”. It would be nice if the Oilers offered him a coaching job. I think fans don’t realize just how good a team guy he is. He’s extremely well liked by the other players, including Dubnyk who speaks very highly of him. But when a guy is done, a guy is done. I don’t see how we can realistically go into next year with a guy who tires out playing an eight of the season. Dubnyk can’t manage the rest of the load, and we’d be foolish to pick up another goalie and go with a 3-headed monster again.

On to tonight’s game.. the Oilers are on a high.. the Flames traded away their best player… we should smoke them. I will be unhappy with anything other than a regulation win. The Flames will want to win with hard work.. the Oilers will have to work hard as well. Hard work often beats skill.

No word on lineups just yet, but I’d imagine they stay pretty much the same. I’d like to see Fistric back in, in place of Potter, perhaps. He’s falling too quickly out of favor, I think, but I like him.

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